MARCH 4 READING…Luke 1
Today we begin reading the longest of the four Gospels. The portrait that Luke gives of Jesus is centered around our Lord’s humanity. It is a very special thing to be able to speak of the eternal Lord Jesus, and at the same time present Him as touchable, caring, and in the flesh. Luke not only penned this Gospel, but he also penned the book of Acts.
As Acts is written in a narrative form, taking great care to deal with the history, so is the Gospel of Luke. Luke begins this Gospel by stating that he was taking great care to write an orderly account of the events of Jesus’ life, that those who read it could have certainty of what has been given to the followers of Jesus. Chapter 1 is a long chapter that deals with the announcing of two prophetic promises of God…the first deals with John the baptizer, who was the forerunner of Jesus…the second concerns Jesus. Zacharias, a priest before God, and his wife Elizabeth were advanced in age and had no children. While Zacharias was ministering before God an angel from God appeared to him to announce that God was going to give him a son…and that his son would be a prophet of God, in the same manner as Elijah…his son would prepare the way for the Messiah. When Zacharias doubted the message given to him, the angel revealed himself as Gabriel who stands in the presence of God, and Gabriel took Zacharias’ ability to speak until the fulfillment of what was declared to him. Elizabeth later gives birth to John. After eight days John was taken to be circumcised, and on that day Zacharias’ voice return to him. The people marveled and wondered what all this meant, and what kind of child John was.
The second announcement in this chapter is Gabriel’s visitation to Mary. Luke, the doctor, was careful to make sure we know that Mary was a virgin. Mary was engaged to a man named Joseph, who lived in Nazareth, and was of the line of David. Mary was understandably shaken by the appearance of Gabriel who told her of God’s plan to use her to bring forth the Messiah into the world. Can you imagine how all this would affect this young virgin woman? Of course, Mary wondered how this could be, as she was a virgin, and had never had sexual intercourse with a man. The angel told her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and she would conceive the Holy One who is the Son of God. Mary, in a great display of faith, responding to the plan of God for her life, said that she was willing to be the maidservant of the Lord. Later, Mary, who was a relative of Elizabeth, went for a visit and as she approached Elizabeth the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped with joy. Elizabeth confirms for Mary God’s great plan for her child, and Mary rejoiced in song at the things God was doing.
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading.
MONDAY’S READING…Luke 2
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